Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi

(135-219 CE)

My students just call me “Rabbi.” I’m the president of the Sanhedrin where I presided for many years in Beit Shearim. Due to poor health, my doctors advised me to move to Zippori on the mountain-top where the air is clear and healthier.

Without our Holy Temple and our beloved Jerusalem, I was very afraid that my people might forget our oral traditions. So I took upon myself the mission of compiling the Oral Law into what you now call the Mishna. That’s my real claim to fame.